President’s Advisory Council for Sustainability Planning
January 20, 2011
Present: Jill Carlson, Sujit Chemburkar, Beth Clodfelter, Lynnette Clouse, Mike Gebeke, Chris Knisely, Sonia Marcus, Matt Rapposelli, Steve Scanlan, Ben Stuart, Harry Wyatt, Jessica Bilecki
Wendy Parker via telecom
Absent: Geoff Buckley, Michele Morrone, Erin Dame, Ed Newman
Minutes: Erin Sykes and Mary Leciejewski
· Housekeeping & Announcements
o Michele Morrone will likely assume co-chair responsibilities
o RFP for energy infrastructure evaluation
· Timeline adjustment for the Climate Action Plan and Sustainability Plan
o Suggestion to keep moving forward on the plan and make new timeline decisions when a new Director of Sustainability is hired.
· DECISION: Vetting of Climate Action Plan will be moved back to June 2011.
· DECISION: Markers will be added to indicate when the Director of Sustainability leaves the university, when the search begins and when the hire is anticipated.
· Working Group Updates
o Transportation group met on January 5 and will meet again January 24 and have all revisions done by February 1.
o Sonia pulled together energy objective with input from Low/No Cost Energy group and Energy Infrastructure Co-Chairs
· Goals and objectives
o Style and Format is based on Vision Ohio
o Vision Statement
§ DECISION: Add “active” before “leader”. Also, add another sentence: “This will be demonstrated through…” The sentence should focus on citizenship, stewardship, and justice.
o 1.1: Ohio University will recruit students, faculty and staff who are interested in sustainability and eager to enhance the way we live and learn.
o 1.6: Drop the modifier.
o 2.5: Include the word “pedestrian-friendly” in 2.5
o 2.5: “Ohio University will support comprehensive transportation options…”
o 2.4: Leave it alone. Do not include pedestrian here.
o 3.4: Add a target about getting communication out to local communities and service organizations regarding availability of surplus items
o 3.4: Use the term “in need” instead of “needy”.
· Benchmarks and Metrics
o Format and style
§ Suggestion to add headings such as “students enrolled” or “reporting”
§ Suggestion that all objectives have some benchmark associated with them
§ Letter each benchmark i.e. A1, A2, A3…
§ Bold words in the benchmark
§ Number the pages of the plan
o Strengthen Sustainability Research
§ Benchmark target discussed
§ Create definition, create inventory of number of departments, scholarships, and dollar amounts of awards
§ Add in XX number of awards XX dollars, Office of Sustainability should have all numbers by Fall 2011
§ Take out “faculty” from first bullet point
o Suggestion to set specific benchmark for # of faculty, staff, students recruited
§ Benchmark will measure recruiting campaign, not how many people which could be hard to track
o Reduce solid waste
§ Include another benchmark on hazardous waste for better communication, tracking, and handling rather than reduction
o Increase recycling rates
§ Create tracking tool to include construction and demolition waste, and additionally develop tracking system with out partner (i.e. solid waste district)
§ Talk with Ed about what date to set for this
o LEED
§ Agreed to create benchmark to assess existing buildings
o Sub-meter
§ Target introduced: 50% of buildings over 15,000 square feet in 5 years and 100% in 10 years
§ Need to find out what proportion have building level meters now (possibly 25%)
o Assess Endowment
§ Do not develop own definition, use one from an outside group, e.g. Sustainable Endowments Institute
o Benchmark on 25 MW peak
§ Create a new benchmark re: not exceeding 25 MW peak over next 25 years
§ Include in footnotes the financial consequences of exceeding the 25 MW peak
§ Introduce wording regarding responsibility for this to address future expansion
o Benchmarks that involved % of overall dollars
§ Make sure purchases are adjusted evaluated in consistent dollars (e.g. 2011 dollars) for better tracking and evaluation purposes
o Regarding target dates that occur in the next 6 months
§ Reword as “three months of adoption of plan” for upcoming dates
· Next Meeting will cover:
o Discuss vetting process
o Discuss strategies
· Adjourned